Activities
Minority rights
Ethnic conflict is one of the main sources of large-scale violence in Europe today. The OSCE's approach is to identify - and seek early resolution of - ethnic tensions and to set standards for the rights of persons belonging to minority groups.
A special focus is to advance the political rights of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE area, to prevent acute crisis and to manage crisis in post-conflict areas of South-Eastern Europe as well as to foster and support civil society development among Roma communities in the Balkans.
OSCE Institutions supporting minority rights:
Features
OSCE facilitates primary education for girls from vulnerable communities
With the support of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian schoolgirls in two Kosovo municipalities are receiving schoolbooks and supplies to help them to complete their compulsory education.
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OSCE Mission in Kosovo helps displaced persons maintain minimal housing conditions
Deplorable living conditions in a temporary settlement in a Gracanica/Gracanice parking lot for persons displaced by the March 2004 civil unrest in Kosovo have improved thanks to OSCE intervention.
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Interview: working towards a new era of ethnic co-existence in Knin
In this interview, Dragan Jerkovic, Deputy Mayor of Knin, Croatia, speaks about progress in rehousing returnees and the representation of ethnic minorities in the city's workforce.
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Pipers during a Gorani wedding ceremony in Restelica, South Kosovo, July 2000. (Lubomir Kotek/OSCE)